1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to retractable coverings for architectural openings such as windows, doors, archways, or the like, and more particularly to a cellular covering having a pair of parallel flexible sheets interconnected by vanes integral with one of the sheets with the covering being movable between a fully retracted position wherein it is wrapped about a roller and a fully extended position. Further, the covering can be moved in the fully extended position between a closed position where the sheets of material and vanes are contiguous and lie in a common vertical plane and an open position wherein the sheets are parallel but separated with the vanes extending generally horizontally therebetween.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Retractable coverings have been in common usage for numerous years. Early forms of such coverings included retractable shades where a flexible sheet of material could be retracted around a roller at the top of the architectural opening or extended from the roller across the architectural opening. A more recent and popular form of retractable covering is a venetian blind which includes a plurality of horizontal slats suspended by cord ladders so as to remain in parallel relationship. The cord ladders have a pair of vertical runs interconnected at spaced vertical locations by a plurality of rungs on which a slat is supported. The vertical runs can be shifted in opposite vertical directions to tilt the rungs thereby tilting the slats between open and closed positions when the venetian blind is fully extended. The blind can be retracted adjacent to a top of the architectural opening by gathering the slats in a stack adjacent to the top.
Vertical blinds are another popular form of retractable coverings which operate very similarly to a venetian blind except the slats are suspended vertically rather than horizontally. The slats can be gathered adjacent one side of the opening or extended across the opening and when extended, can be pivoted about vertical axes between open and closed positions.
Another more recent but popular form of cellular retractable coverings includes a pair of sheer fabrics suspended from a roller and interconnected by a plurality of horizontal, continuous, flexible vanes that extend substantially the full width of the opening. The two sheets of sheer along with the vanes can be moved into a vertically extending contiguous relationship and rolled around a roller within a head rail for the covering when retracting the covering. The covering can also be extended from the head rail by unrolling the sheets of material and vanes from the roller. When the sheets and vanes are unrolled, they can be disposed in a closed position where they remain contiguous or the sheets of sheer material can be shifted in opposite vertical directions causing the sheets of sheer material to separate horizontally and allowing the vanes to move from a vertical orientation to a horizontal orientation establishing passages therebetween through which vision and light can pass. In this form of window covering, the vanes are typically formed from a translucent or opaque material whereas the sheer fabrics are somewhat transparent. The edges of the vanes are adhesively or otherwise secured to the sheers so the edges of the vanes move with the attached sheer between the open and closed positions of the covering. An example of such a covering is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,001,199, which is of common ownership with the present application.
While this later form of covering has been very popular, variations thereof are desirable to increase the available aesthetics of such a covering and it is to provide additional variations for such a covering that the present invention has been developed.